Through the understanding of past and present art and design movements and trends, along with 2/3-dimensional manual and/or digital communication, a designer is exposed to a multitude of social, cultural, environmental and economic issues. The past and contemporary issues and their respective design solutions, buttressed by theory, inspire designers and most importantly help address current issues such as sustainable development, resiliency, displacement, migration and global health crises. Designers are currently involved in projects dealing with COVID 19 pandemics: Awareness campaigns sensitizing people on how to “stay safe”, rethinking interior spaces to address “social distancing” are only few examples among competition titles, forums, conferences and public/private initiatives addressing the crisis.

In line with its mission statement: “to educate its students and the public in the creation and appreciation of art and design, to discover and transmit knowledge and to make lasting contributions to a global society through critical thinking, scholarship and innovation”, the School of Architecture and Design at AIU has structured its programs to firstly include a liberal art education foundation that will build-up the identity of the AIU graduates as well as their literal, written and visual communication skills. Secondly, a group of school core requirements that will develop the collaborative and interdisciplinary abilities of the graduates to communicate with other professionals and build a wide platform of knowledge in fields interacting with design. Thirdly, a group of major requirement courses are offered for the graduates to specialize in their field of study.

-Prof. Jean-Pierre El Asmar